Optimal Structural Design of Stuffed Shields with Kevlar Fiber Clothes against Hypervelocity Impact

A series of impact experiments are conducted to investigate the ballistic performances of stuffed Whipple shields with Kevlar fiber clothes using a two-stage light gas gun facilities. Based on the impact limit curve of Nextel/Kevlar stuffed Whipple shields, the protective performances of Kevlar stuffed Whipple shields, the damage morphology and mechanism of stuffed material and bulkhead are obtained and compared. The main results show as following: the stuffed Whipple shields with Kevlar fiber clothes have excellent protection performance at the low impact velocity; the double-layer packing structure can improve the protective performance. Kevlar fibers sufficiently absorb energy by plastic deformation and fracture when the impact velocity is low. In addition, high temperature melting and carbonization phenomenon appear in the hypervelocity region, which help break up and melt the projectiles that minimize the damage to cabin wall. This exploratory method provides us a useful way to make the ballistic performances of stuffed Whipple shields more perfect in space debris protection field.